Torremolinos

Introduction

Torremolinos Beach

Torremolinos is a town in the south of Spain on the Costa del Sol. It is mainly a town for pensionados from outside of Spain. You will find a big population of Germans, Dutch and English living in the town. In summer the town is swamped by youth coming for the beaches, the clubs and all that happens when young people meet. Torremolinos is located just a few kilometres to the west of Málaga, making it easy to get to this town.

Sights and Activities

Beaches

It will not surprise you that the biggest attraction are the beaches, during the daytime and the several clubs during the night. Many bars have a theme to connect with one group of tourist. (the is a Finland bar, a Danish bar, and so on.) The beaches can be roughly devided into two parts: the one to the west of the Castillo de Santa Clara Hotel, which stick out into the sea, and the ones to the east.

La Carihuela

La Carihuela is the part of town that was the fishermans district and has some old charm left. It is to the south of the centre of Torremolinos, but since the touristic boom connected to it.

Aqualand

Aqualand is a water based theme park near Torremolinos, which is a popular park to go to when staying at the Costa del Sol, making it very busy in the peak of the touristic season.

Málaga

Málaga is just a few kilometres down the road. More information on the city can be found on the Travel Guide for Málaga. Attractions include the Alcazaba and the Picasso Museum.

Weather

Torremolinos has one of the best climates in Europe. It's a typical Mediterranean climate with warm, sunny and dry summers from May to September and mild winters from December to February. Average daytime temperatures range from 16 °C in January to around 30 °C in August, though temperatures of 40 °C are possible even along this coastline. In general though it's much more bearable in summer compared to places inland like Granada or Seville. Nights are between 7 °C in January and 22 °C in August. Summers are dry, precipitation is concentrated in the winter months though also autumn and spring see a few showers every now and then.

Torremolinos

Getting There

By Plane

Málaga airport is located between Torremolinos and Málaga and the easiest way to get to the town from other parts of Europe. With the opening of new Terminal 3 in 2010, the capacity was enlarged. At the airport is a trainstation of the cercanias (commuter trains). A ride into the train station in Torremolinos takes about 15 minutes, with trains leaving every half hour. The is also a shuttle bus connection between the airport and several town on the costa del Sol. Buses leave in front of the airport, approximately every 35-40 minutes.

Additional transport

Rail: At the airport there is a train station of the cercanias (commuter trains). A ride to the central train station takes about 15 minutes, with trains leaving every half hour. There are also connections to Fuengirola.

Bus: Busline 19 has a service between the airport and the busstation. Buses leave in front of the airport, approximately every 35 to 40 minutes. An airport coach goes directly to Marbella.

Car: The airport can easily be reached by car from Málaga and other nearby coastal towns. There are many car rental companies and als taxis available at Málaga Airport.

By Train

There is a fast train connection between Madrid and Málaga. The AVE takes you from Madrid-Atocha to Málaga (and the other way) in just under three hours. From Málaga you can take the Cercanias (line C-1) to Torremolis, which takes around 30 minutes, and has several stops along the way.

By Car

Coming from France you can follow the A-7 that starts at the Spanish border all the way to Málaga and just beyond Málaga lies Torremolinos. If follows the Mediterranean coastline, bypassing cities like Barcelona and Valencia. Coming from Madrid, it's best to take the A-4 and then switch to the A-45 near Córdoba. From Seville you can take the A-92 until Antequera, and take the A-45 from there.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

The international access code for Spain is +34. The emergency number for police, ambulance and the fire brigade is 112.

In cities you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios'. The latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones. These shops are used a lot by foreigners to call to their mother country.

The main mobile network operators in Spain are Yoigo, Vodafone, Movistar and Orange, as in most of Europe voice and data coverage is generally good in urban areas however it can be patchy in rural locations. Cheap mobile phones (less than €50) with some pre-paid minutes are sold at FNAC or any phone operator's shop (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange). Topping-up is then done by buying scratch cards from the small stores, supermarkets, vending points (often found in tobacco shops) or kiosks.

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.